Dragon Rage
by Jaffacake11679
Summary: Chapter 6 is up! I can't write a decent summary even if my life depended on it i'm afraid. Please be kind as it is my first fanfiction.
1. Prologue

Jaffacake115679: Hi there, I'm a new member to fanfiction.net and this is my first ever fan fiction so please be kind.

~***~

'Dragon Speech'

"English"

_Thoughts_

~***~

Prologue.

~***~

For as long as anyone could remember there had been a great war between two completely different nations. Humans and Dragons, once close friends who fought side-by-side now locked together in a fierce battle that devastated all.

Especially the Dragons, for Humans had always been crafty and sneaky.

A small village laid in ruin after Humans had launched a new attack upon the Dragons in which the mighty creatures had fallen.

Of course they had lost many lives in the battle but not half as many as the Dragons for their entire kind had been wiped from the village, only a small dent in the population that lived throughout the world but it was still devastating.

All except one. A Dragon in the form of a human, a mere baby hidden amongst the smoking, charred ruins of a once proud, tall castle.

For all their claims of intelligence what remained of the men had not checked the area, they had assumed that all the Dragons and Pure Dragons were slain and that there was no one around to possibly save those that were close to death.

Yet they could not have known how wrong they were for there was also another, an adult.

Stepping out from the shadows was a woman, she was frail and bruised. Her name was Akara and she had been brought by a foul man named Drake, her husband against her will. After the battle he had abandoned her by the woods claiming that he had no use for her anymore and that she could sit here and rot with the Dragon carcasses that littered the area.

She was dressed very plainly in a long brown dress made from thick, itchy material. On her feet were flat brown shoes. She had long, dull black hair which was quite tangled and emerald eyes which glistened with sadness. Her skin was pale and her hands were soft. On her middle finger she wore a ring, silver with a sapphire in the centre that was covered by thin, twisting, coiling strips of silver that connected smoothly with the rest of the ring.

She walked softly around the area, shaking her head in despair at all the destruction caused. Only she knew the real truth for her husband's desertion of her for during their camp the night before she had admitted to her darkest secret. She herself was a Dragon but not the same as a Pure-Dragon which could not take on a human form, only their lizard one, she was a Dragon, or in other words she could assume both Human and partial Dragon forms, prolonged youth and life. Her father had been Dragon-Kind, a Dragon and her mother had been Human.

As soon as Drake had heard those words he cast her a dirty glare and forced her out of the tent whilst shouting "I shall not sleep near such slime!"

She thought he loved her, but after those words she knew how wrong she was, if she were a half-breed she would never be loved by any human who knew her secret.

Now she was all alone with her despair at what she should have stopped. The Dragon-Kind had never done wrong but, driven by greed the men had attacked them and the half-breeds in the village, few had escaped but those who had fled at once.

They could not have won.

She remembered what Drake had been so intent on during all those night of travelling and it could be basically summed up into two simple words Dragon Gold

It had never been myth that Pure-Dragons horded large amounts of gold within their vast castles up on the mountain ranges over-looking the villages of the Dragons whom they protected with their lives however it had been a complete lie that they stole this gold from Humans and destroyed their villages.

Akara sat on a small stone slab that had once been part of a wall and silently wept, that was when she heard something shifting. She looked up and dried her eyes but saw nothing that could have made such sounds. She was about to shrug it off as merely her imagination when she heard more movement and rustling. It was coming from the long, wiry grass beside a charred black building that had completely collapsed.

Getting to her feet she softly made her way towards the building following the feint sound. She knelt in the grass and began searching through it, that was when she found him. A mere baby lying in a large, blue scale with a brown, woven blanket wrapped around him. It was evident that one of the men had tried to strangle him for there was a loop of rope around his neck tied to a heavy slab of stone that had probably been part of the house when the man had tied the rope. It was lucky that the home had caved in otherwise this child, like so many others would have been dead.

Carefully she took him from the scale which was so large it acted like the perfect bed for the child and into her arms where she cut the rope with a small blade she found amongst the grass. There was a blue line around his neck where the skin had been broken, and bruised.

She stared at the baby boy with soft eyes. His face was pale, as was common amongst Dragons and his hair – though very short – was white which was also common, it would gain colour as he grew a little older but his skin would always be pale and not even the brightest, most strongest of sunlight could change that. At the moment his eyes were closed so she couldn't see what colour they were, not that it especially mattered for unless those eyes were blue she was holding nothing more but a regular Dragon like herself. The boy's pale face was marked with a blue, thin triangle that extended from beneath one of his closed eyes to about halfway down his pale cheek, two emerald coloured diagonal lines which extended from a little way beneath his other eye to a few millimetres from his thin eyebrow, on his cheek was a blue curved triangle which followed his jaw line diagonally and on his forehead was a very strange marking, even she had not seen such a marking amongst Dragons before. It was a single circle which had two lines in it, one vertical breaking through each end of the circle and extending a little from it and a line cutting horizontally through it but not breaking the circle like the first. However at each side where that horizontal line met the circle was a small Dragon wing. The wings were blue but the rest of the strange shape was green.

Akara carefully stood. She had no idea where she was going to go but one thing was for certain. The child could not stay here, he was rare, she didn't know why she thought that for she had not seen the colour of his eyes but the marking on his forehead was certainly not common as the others were.

Pulling away from the collapsed building with the baby in her arms she passed through the small village forcing herself not to look at the slain Dragons of whom she may have been able to save had she spoken against the Humans.

Cautiously she walked lightly through the ruined village with the bundle in her arms, checking up on the child every now and then only to find he still had not stirred. In fact he remained silent and peaceful in a deep sleep.

It wasn't until Akara sat some time later on a grassy banking that was unstained by blood and corpses that he awoke and then she got the shock of her life.

For his eyes were blue and not just blue either but a deep, pure blue, like sapphire. As soon as she overcame the shock of having a blue-eyed Dragon in her arms she gripped him protectively, she now knew that she could not leave him unless his real parents were still alive, something that she strongly doubted.

The child did not make a sound, he just stared at her with his blue eyes as though he understood that she was helping him. Akara immediately shook off the thought, he wasn't even one year old, there was no way he could understand what she was doing but that thought quickly returned as she stared into his deep eyes.

As though she were hypnotised by those eyes she decided at once that she could not let him go, she would care for him herself but first he needed a name and a name came to her in an instant, she smiled at him, remembering her father who had been slain by Man long ago in a fierce battle over land when the war had first begun 'I shall name you Seto' she said softly and the smile did not leave her face.

~***~

Jaffacake115679: So what do you think? Is it worth continuing?


	2. Chapter 1

~***~

Chapter One.

(15 years later)

~***~

'Speaking in Dragon'

"Speaking in English"

_Thoughts_

~***~

A small beam of sunlight flooded through the small, rectangular window and fell on the pale face of a 15 year old teen as he stood in front of a trunk of strange, curved swords. It was hard to think that this was the same child found many years ago amongst ruins by a woman. His face bore a blue, thin triangle that extended from beneath one of his eyes to about halfway down his cheek, two emerald coloured diagonal lines which extended from a little way beneath his other eye to a few millimetres from his eyebrow, on his other cheek was a blue curved triangle which diagonally followed his jaw line and the strangest of his marks had also remained, but that was concealed behind his fringe. The boy's hair was no longer pure white as it had been those years ago but a dark brown. The colour of his face had not changed over the years nor would it ever no matter how much sunlight beat down upon him he would always be strangely pale, even for a Dragon he was pale, his skin was leathery and slightly scaly where the markings were but that was considered normal. His eyes also remained the same, bright sapphire, something that amongst Dragons was rare.

He was very tall and lean. Some would describe him as wiry, his dark brown hair was longish and fell in his eyes. He was wearing brown leather pants and a top of the same colour and material and a thick brown trench coat which came to his ankles. On his feet were boots in a lighter shade of brown made from Dragon hide with thick dark brown straps wrapped around them in a criss-cross fashion. Around each arm was a brown leather wrist guard which was also brown that extended just below his elbow, covering the sleeves of his trench coat and tightened with thin fawn coloured strips of leather that criss-crossed neatly through tiny holes in the material. He was also wearing earrings, five small hoop ones in one ear gradually getting higher up (A/N: Y'know like those people who have multiple piercings in their ears) and a largish dragon fang which dangled from silver in the other. 

He brushed his dark hair from his eyes once again before pulling a sword from the trunk that was different to the others. The handle was metal – silver probably – and wrapped around it was a thick strip of brown leather. The blade was a strange shape. It started off straight but then the bottom became jagged until it finally curved inwards then outwards into a point.

There was a feint tap on the thick wooden door before a woman pushed it open. She had sleek, black hair and kind emerald eyes which betrayed her youthful looks, for all a half-breed had to do was look into your eyes and they could see the age within their depths 'You should hurry Seto, you do not wish to make your teacher angry. Again' she said, her tone was kind like her eyes and relaxed.

'I wont be late' he answered calmly

She smiled 'You say that all the time, yet you are _always_ late' she said.

Seto sighed 'It doesn't matter. Takashi would wait a thousand years just to see me administer one stroke with the worst of blade' he said whilst picking up a brown belt from his bed and putting it on then tightening it around the sword.

'Your over-inflated ego and bragging will be the end of you Seto' Akara joked fondly 'You should put that in a sheathe' she added sternly 'You do not want your little brother to hurt himself when he hugs you, which you know he will'

He rolled his eyes 'It doesn't have one' he answered 'You know it doesn't'

Akara laughed lightly 'I know, you have told me many times. Just be careful with it' she said.

The heavy wooden door creaked a little as a ten year old boy with long, bushy black hair and soft grey eyes entered the room, his face bore a red stripe which went right across in a straight line and over part of his nose, a largish purple dot beneath his right eye and a triangular shape which was set at a diagonal from his jaw bone, across his left cheek about a few millimetres away from the perfectly straight red marking, like the brunette the skin which bore the markings was leathery and scaly. Little Mokuba was not Seto's real brother as Akara was his real mother unlike the brunette who had been recovered from the ruins of a massacre about fifteen years ago 'Good morning big brother' he greeted happily whilst hugging his brother tightly, he was wearing clothes made from light brown cotton which were rather plain.

Seto ruffled the child's hair and grinned 'Morning' he answered.

Mokuba's innocent eyes travelled down to the sword at Seto's side and widened in interest 'Whoa, I've never seen that one before' he reached out to touch it.

'I should think so as well' Akara said sternly whilst gently knocking his hand away 'Seto I want you to lock up all your weapons before you leave, I don't want Mokuba to get hurt'

Seto rolled his eyes again 'I know, you have pestered me about that at least twenty times this week. I have to go before I'm so late that even Takashi gets annoyed at me'

Mokuba grinned 'I'll see you later Seto' he said happily as his 'brother' left the room.

'Bye Seto!' Akara shouted after him.

~***~

The lands of the Dragon-Kind had barely changed at all, almost as though time had not passed at all. The inhabitants had not aged and those who had hadn't aged much for the Dragons inherited partial immortality from the Pure-Dragons, they aged normally until they were about 18 and then they stopped, only aging once every thousand years or so. Tall, snow-capped mountains surrounded a deep valley, hidden within the ever present mist. Deep into the valley was a large village of thick stone houses and large grassy plains. Trees grew upon the grassy hills that connected with the mountains. But although the land hadn't changed over the years the actual village had.

As Men moved across the land more and more had come to the Valley seeking a home and refuge. Some were just children who had journeyed far on their own as their parent's, whether Pure-Dragon or Dragon, had been killed, others were women on their own or whole families. Life in the Valley was peaceful as it was hidden and well protected but most feared that danger loomed just around the corner, in each of their hearts they knew this calm, this security would not last forever. Human-Kind was intent upon taking all the land and gold for themselves and eventually they would accomplish that if not stopped.

But it seemed that very few wanted to accept this harsh reality.

One of the plains had been reserved as usual as a training ground for the teenagers who wanted to become skilled fighters

Most did not have the spirit nor the talent to do so as the warriors fought with a fine art of accuracy and talent but there were a few who did and it were these who were trained in the art of weapons and finally flight of a Pure-Dragon who was usually their assigned guardian and protector with whom the chosen fighter bonded with in a ritual.

A well built man surveyed his class for a moment before beginning, now I shall not go through what he said for it would be very long, boring and complicated. After his little speech – which was really not that little as it had lasted half an hour at least – he demonstrated the move he had been talking about and told them to get into pairs and prepare to duel and everyone complied and found a partner except two. Seto and his friend Otoji who was 18. Their trainer stared at them for a moment "Did I not just say get into pairs?" he questioned, his tone sounded angrily.

'Yes but . . .' Otoji began whilst brushing black bangs from his emerald eyes, like Seto he was quite tall (though his height did not match Seto's 6'2ft) he had long black hair which he usually tied back in a lose pony tail and a similar triangle marking extending from his eye to halfway down his cheek coloured black and two black, straight lines beneath his other eye. He wasn't as thin as Seto, but nevertheless he was slender.

'But what?' their teacher demanded. The other class members were staring at him.

Otoji glanced at his friend 'Seto's too good for me' he said. This caused laughter amongst the class as it tended to be humiliating for an 18 year old to admit that a 15 year old was better than him 'I don't like fighting him if I can help it, I lose too easily against him'

Seto rolled his eyes but grinned all the same, what his friend was saying was true, for some reason unknown to him he had much faster reflexes, keener eyesight and smoother movements than any of the other students. Otoji reckoned it was because of his blue eyes as he had heard that Dragons born with such eyes were mysterious and somehow different from the others. Seto hadn't been too sure and had scoffed the idea saying it was just superstition and stated instead that he must have been born to weald a sword in battle.

But you couldn't deny that there was something strange about him, once about two years ago a group of men had somehow discovered where the Valley was and had ambushed it. The brunette had basically been in the wrong place in the wrong time for he was brutally attacked. Despite his quick movements to get away he had a sword slashed deeply down his arm. The strange thing was he didn't cry out in pain, sure he had winced but he had not made any sound indicating that it had hurt, not only that but it had taken no more than a day to heal only leaving a scar.

Most would have said he was a Demon trying to impersonate a Dragon if he didn't have blue eyes. For blue eyes came with a myth, the biggest myth of the Dragon-Kind.

Except it was more of a prophecy than a myth.

~***~

A large map was slammed onto the table by a 17 year old with sandy blond hair, he was slender and had sharp lilac eyes, he was known as Marik (Or Malik if that's what you want to call him) and was considered one of the best fighters since the big massacre fifteen years ago and in reality he was much older than he looked, over 3000 years or so. He pointed to an area circled in red with a slender, tanned finger "There is our target" he said fiercely "The only place where Dragons still live in this country, the Valley, it is surrounded by mountains and hidden within mist and many Dragons look over the village there from the mountains. Of all the Dragon villages, this will be the hardest to destroy"

Some exchanged nervous glances, a man in his mid-thirties glanced at the map with a scowl on his face "We could be walking into a trap for all we know, Pure-Dragons hiding on the mountain range keeping watch on the perimeter around the Valley?! It would be pure madness to try and attack when so few of us are actually fit to fight" he snarled "Or have you forgotten that those _slime_ are not affected by age and injury as we are?"

"Drake should know" said another whilst folding his arms "His wife was one of those scum, as soon as he noticed she wasn't aging as she should have been he knew, they are _filthy creatures who should bow to us and serve as our slaves not roam free!" he declared._

Another man spoke up "They are tricky, they are sneaky. What makes you think their spies do not travel amongst us Marik, I assure you walking right into the Valley would be like writing our own death sentences" you could tell that the Human-race was generally not very smart, how they could miss a deathly pale, youthful looking person with strange coloured markings on their face is beyond understanding.

Marik glared at each of them "My sister was _murdered_ by one of those scaly beasts, they have lived free for too long, it is time to have my vengeance!" he hissed "If you wish to be cowardly then that is fine, but do not forget the pain a Dragon, be it Pure or not has unleashed upon you, upon _all of us!" he looked around the small group "We attack _tonight_!"_

~***~

Seto walked back down to a set of small fields behind the village, close to the mountains in the darkness. The long grass brushed against him as he walked. He was careful not to make a sound for if someone caught him sneaking out again he was really going to get in trouble off Akara. She never did like him going out of the village let alone at night.

The brunette however did like strolling around the outskirts of the village after dark, it was always quiet and peaceful. When he was restless and couldn't sleep he would often climb out the window and just walk around near the mountains for a few hours. Despite the villagers views about him sneaking out they would be grateful he did tonight.

Seto sat beside the lake and stared out towards the horizon at the surface of the clear water which reflected the moons silvery glow. He wasn't big on views or anything like that but this place calmed him whenever he was restless, like tonight.

He must have been there for about two hours when he heard the first explosion. By then he was lying on his back staring at the night sky as the water had begun to bore him, he didn't think much of it at first as there were often small explosions in the mountains because of tiny volcanoes, however a second, much louder rumble caught his attention, the whole ground shook and black smoke rose from the mountains. Getting to his feet he silently moved towards the rocky cliff which made up part of the smaller mountain. He moved back a little when he heard someone coughing.

"Damn Marik" Drake choked "Makin' us come all the way down here at night"

"He's a bloody idiot" said a second "All this noise is sure to wake those damn Dragons before we can even slaughter any of them"

"Notice how he ain't even here" said another man "Always has us doin' his dirty work"

"Quiet" Drake scolded "I think I hear something"

"Like what?" a fourth man questioned.

"I dunno, could be one of them spyin' on us" Drake answered "Those slime are crafty buggers, they sneak up on a guy and _WHAM_!" the others flinched as Drake made a violent gesture with his hands "Next thing ya know you've got a sword stickin' outta ya back. Course dem damn Hybrids are da worse, dey can sneak up on a guy without makin' a sound . . . dey look harmless, blend in with you and me they do, don't look no different from us 'cept those freaky markings they have, which dey can say are tattoos 'n' get away with it, innocent like y'know? But really behind all dat they are gettin' ready to slit yeh throat with their claws at any moment!"

There was an annoyed sigh "Look, all of you shaddup and help me with this friggin dynamite, that damn village won't blow up itself" someone snarled.

Seto backed away, his first instinct was to change into his Hybrid side and rush over there and decapitate everyone in sight just with his claws but he had no idea how many there really were, his logical side soon took over and told him to run and warn everyone else for it was a fact that against many Humans a lone Dragon, especially one of 15 years wouldn't stand a chance.

Turning sharply the brunette ran back towards the village just as another blast shook the ground. He could see lights appearing in the windows as people had been woken by the noise.

~***~

Mokuba snapped awake as he felt his bedroom tremble, he laid there for a moment unsure of what he should do. It couldn't be an earthquake because they didn't get them in the Valley. He decided to go and see if Seto knew what had caused it and climbed out of bed.

Quietly he crossed the landing to Seto's room where he knocked softly on the door, after getting no answer he pushed it open, he wasn't worried. Seto could be a very deep sleeper at times, in fact sometimes just to wake him up either he or Akara had to tip a glass of water over his head, and even then he wouldn't always wake up.

The room was very dark and Mokuba could hardly see a thing, he groped around blindly for the light switch and smiled to himself when he found it. After flicking it on his eyes widened. Seto wasn't there, of course he knew where the brunette had gone, but he had picked a very bad time to go out for a midnight stroll, in once sense Mokuba didn't want to get him into trouble but in another he was scared. The scared part won so he chose plan B, he left Seto's room and opened the door to his mother's.

'Mom?'

Someone shifted in the darkness and turned on the light 'What is it Mokuba?' Akara asked sleepily.

'Just a few minutes ago my room was shaking and there was a loud noise outside' the ten year old answered quietly.

Akara smiled at him a little 'You probably dreamt it. Go and ask Seto if he heard anything'

Mokuba's eyes looked worried 'He's not there' he said quietly

She sat up 'What?'

'I was gonna ask big brother if he had heard it too but he's not there' said Mokuba.

Akara climbed out of her bed and took Mokuba's hand. Just as the two left their room there was another loud bang and the whole house shook. Mokuba clung to her and started to tremble 'What's happening?' he asked 'Where is Seto?'

His mother looked worried 'I don't know the answer to either question Mokuba' she said sadly 'Come on, let's go look for him'

~***~

Seto vaulted over the wall that separated the village from the rest of the Valley as he always did since he could never be bothered with going around and using the entrance, now wasn't the time for that anyway. There were many people in the cobbled streets all wondering what the hell was going on.

The brunette scanned over them and noticed they all had the same fearful expression on their faces except the children who also looked rather excited, as he looked around for someone who could actually help their situation he felt something cling to his waist. He looked down and spotted Mokuba with his arms wrapped tightly around him. Akara came up to him.

'What have I told you about sneaking out at night!' she scolded 'We were worried'

'Where is Takashi?' Seto asked quickly 'I need to talk to him . . . there are Humans in the mountains'

At once all the confused chatter died and everyone looked at Seto, some held fear in their eyes.

'What?' Akara questioned, unsure of whether she had heard him right. There had never been any traces of Humans being in the mountain area before, except that one time where a small group of them had attempted an ambush, and had gotten slaughtered.

Seto spoke as clearly as he could despite being rather out of breath 'There are Humans . . . in the mountains . . . I heard them talking'

Someone screamed and several children who were old enough to know about the threat of Humans cried and clung to their mothers.

Takashi approached the brunette 'What did they say?' he asked.

'I don't know for certain, they were mostly complaining but they mentioned some stuff called er . . . _dynamite, whatever the hell that is and killing everyone in sight' Seto replied, slowing his breathing to normal rate again._

Everyone except Akara and Takashi exchanged confused glances, as they lived secluded from Humans none of the Pure-Dragons nor Dragons (A/N: Those with a Human appearance and certain qualities of the Pure-Dragon such as prolonged life and sharper hearing) knew what dynamite was other than Akara because she had travelled with a Human and seen him use it, when she had arrived at the village she had told Takashi about it since he was the leader and tutor of the fighters and had needed to know what their enemy was truly capable of, however she had neglected to teach Seto what the stuff was because as a child he had been terribly inquisitive and even now he still was. It would have been dangerous to tell him about something that could do so much damage for he would have certainly tried to get his hands on some.

'How many were there?' Takashi questioned.

'I don't know, I heard at least five different voices though. They kept talking about someone' Seto answered.

'Who?'

'Someone called _Marik' Seto replied._

~***~

Jaffacake11679: Thank you so much if you bared with me through that very confusing chapter, I know there was a lot of Pure-Dragon and Dragon and other such all over the place and I am so sorry if that was confusing, hell looking back at it now I find it confusing, and I wrote the damn thing.

I would like to thank you for the reviews, you kind, kind people! And as long as I am not struck down with writers block, and people continue to review I'll keep updating, even if I only get 1 review per chapter I'll _still _update.

~***~


	3. Chapter 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter Two**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**'Speaking in Dragon'**

**"Speaking in English"**

**_Thoughts_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'All Hybrids, Dragon-Riders and Dragon-Soldiers from level 3 and up in their training must find armour, weapons and their Dragons. All women and children must remain indoors!' Takashi shouted.

Akara stood on her doorstep and hugged Seto. Tears were trickling down her face, Mokuba had latched onto Seto's leg and was refusing to let him go 'Please, don't go!' he begged, his grey eyes looked pained.

Seto turned as he felt someone tap his shoulder indicating that he had to go 'Sorry Mokuba' the brunette said softly 'I have to go, but I promise I'll come back' he said softly before pulling out of the boy's grip and tightening his belt around a sword and two daggers.

Akara put her arm around Mokuba's shoulder as Seto walked away 'I don't understand, why does Seto gotta go and fight?' the boy asked, his voice was a pitch higher from crying 'He doesn't even ride a Pure-Dragon' he added and that was true, Seto didn't ride a Pure-Dragon, but he wasn't just a normal Dragon either, he was Hybrid, which meant that he could take on a semi-dragon form, or appear to be Human.

'We have been waiting for this for a long time Mokuba, but none of us thought it would come this soon. For years we have been hearing things about a huge army of Men lead by an immortal who goes by the name of Marik. Every Dragon village they have attacked has become nothing but ruins overnight. There are not enough of us to hold them off' she answered softly 'Come on, inside the house Mokuba'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto looked at all the frightened faces, he couldn't say that he wasn't scared either because that would be a lie and he couldn't blame the other teens for looking so terrified, there was a good chance that they wouldn't make it out alive.

A Dragon-Soldier started checking them and stopped when he got to Seto 'Where is your armour?' he questioned eyeing the leather and Seto's bare arms.

'I don't have any' the brunette answered whilst looking at his shoes.

The man frowned 'You are a high level 5 yet you have no armour'

'I don't need it' Seto replied sulkily, he didn't want to be here, he wanted to be back at home with Mokuba and Akara.

The man looked doubtful but he didn't pester him further. Seto took a spear with a point that was curved over a little instead of a straight one from a soldier who was dressed in thick, dented armour and walked over to the line of Pure-Dragons who were waiting for their bonded partners to show up, his sharp blue eyes scanning the other teens who all looked petrified.

_And so they should be he thought gravely _Most of them haven't even seen a real battle, let alone fought one_ his eyes narrowed as he continued to look around __They are inexperienced. I am inexperienced, and yet here we are, expected to defend our family and our home having only received warning half an hour ago. It is madness. And stupidity_

He spotted his friend Otoji clumsily mount a brownish yellow Pure-Dragon, in the process he dropped his sword which was just a standard straight blade and a spear which was normal, not curved over. Seto picked up the weapons, passing them up to Otoji who was having a hard time getting used to the armour he was wearing.

The black haired teen grinned sheepishly 'Thanks' he offered 'Say, are you nervous?' he asked.

'What gave you that idea?' Seto questioned.

'Your eyes' Otoji replied 'You can tell me y'know, I'm not going to laugh 'cause I'm terrified'

Seto looked at his shoes for a moment 'I don't really know how I feel right now' he lied.

Otoji shook his head 'Stop trying to portray yourself as the tough guy Seto, you are allowed to be afraid y'know'

' . . . I suppose I do feel a little scared' Seto admitted.

His friend grinned 'You don't have to worry though, I know your going to come back and see that kid brother of yours'

'What makes you say that?' the brunette asked, everyone knew Mokuba was not his blood brother, but the two were so close that everyone referred to them as being brothers anyway.

'Because your twice as good as any of the fighters here and they've been doing this sort of thing for years' Otoji replied.

'I'm not'

'Gee, your ego has taken a dramatic plummet recently' said Otoji

Seto smiled a little 'Let's just say I feel differently now I'm actually in their shoes' he said.

'Yeah, guess your right, I mean being around all these pros is bound to dent anyone's ego'

'I didn't mean it like _that_' Seto replied.

Otoji forced a grin 'Yeah I know, just promise me one thing'

'What?'

'If I'm killed you'll kill the bastard that did it' Otoji replied.

'Er . . . okay, but what makes you think that your gonna get killed?' Seto asked.

Another loud rumble sounded from the mountains meaning that Otoji didn't get chance to reply, the brunette wanted to reassure his friend but there was no time. He left his friend and lightly ran towards the cliff edge where he would get a better view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akara looked on, her emerald eyes looked frightened as she saw many Dragons rise into the air all heading for the mountains, it would be lying to say that she wasn't worried because she was, not just for her life and the village but for Seto. Mokuba was crying loudly, his grey eyes were mournful and scared.

'I want Seto to come back!' he wailed.

Akara held him close 'I know hun, I know but he has to fight' she said soothingly 'I promise he will return' she added.

Mokuba cried harder and buried his face into his mother's dress 'I wanna go help him!'

'No Mokuba, you can't' she replied.

There was a tremendous blast from the mountains, the sound of rocks crashing echoed all around, Humans had finally breached the natural shield that the Valley had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto squinted through the dust and spotted men climbing over the rubble into the Valley. He watched as Dragon-Soldiers tried to hold them back, there were several gunshots and each one fell down dead with a small hole in either their head or chest.

Silently he got to his feet and gripped the spear then locked onto his target. A lone man who had foolishly stood right beneath the ledge he was perched on with very little armour to protect himself. It all happened in a flash of steel and blood as the point of the spear was driven through the side of his unprotected skull in one smooth swing.

Seto lightly dropped beside him, the man was rather muscular, his face was dirty and bore long, ugly scars. The brunette knelt when the black metal of a gun caught his eye and in doing so failed to notice someone behind him. The next thing he knew there was a searing pain down his back, he turned sharply and came face to face with another man who seemed surprised that the teen was still alive.

In one swift movement the man's head was sliced from his body, blood coated Seto's blade an angry red. He staggered away from the two bodies as dizziness swept over him, he may have been a Dragon but he was still affected by blood loss. Tired and disorientated he sat stiffly behind some large rocks and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

**TBC**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaffacake11579: Sorry it's taken so long to update but I've had loads of problems with my computer, plus exams at school. A new character will be coming into it soon but I'll leave it up to you guys to guess just who it is, I'll give you a hint though, it ain't Yugi or Yami.

I would like to say thank you Jenna aka kitty for reviewing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Chapter 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter Three**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**'Speaking in Dragon'**

**"Speaking in English"**

**_Thoughts_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An ear-piercing wail echoed through the night sky as yet another Pure-Dragon was slain. Akara shook, she could see the men drawing ever closer to the village and it worried her greatly as she hugged Mokuba close.

'Don't worry' she whispered soothingly 'Everything is going to be okay' she continued wishing that she could actually believe that for herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Otoji lifted his head groggily, he had been thrown from his Pure-Dragon after the creature had been slain and had badly hit his head, he could still feel the blood trickling down near his temple but the wound wasn't too severe. He slowly got to his feet and looked around.

There was nothing but mist and carnage, thousands of their kind lay on the blood-stained grass not moving and even more half-breeds had suffered the same fate. Screams could be heard in the distance and the black haired teen shuddered. As he walked around for a few minutes it began to dawn on him that they had probably lost yet amongst all the bodies he did not recognize any to resemble his friend, he didn't know whether to be relieved or more afraid.

'Seto?' he called out uneasily as he walked past the large hole in the mountain. He quickened his pace when he recognised the blade which lay on the floor beside a headless corpse '_SETO_?!' he turned in a complete circle before noticing thick amounts of dried blood on the floor leading off to a large mound of rocks.

Now although both Humans and Dragons shared the same blood colour, a Dragon-Kind (A/N: Meaning Pure-Dragons, Hybrids and Dragons) blood was a lighter shade of red, not by much but it was noticeable to those who knew the difference and another Dragon would know that difference.

Otoji began to worry as he followed the trail, his pace broke out into a run as the amount of blood that he saw increased. He remembered Akara's words to him before he had left with the others. She had begged him to look out for Seto and make sure he didn't get himself killed, humph some guardian he was. Eventually he came across his friends hiding place. Kneeling beside him he swore and tried to lean the unconscious brunette forward a little so he could see the extent of the damage, it was already beginning to heal but it was evident that the wound was deep and in his weakened state Seto's body couldn't heal it as quickly.

Otoji instantly regretted moving Seto for the bleeding had started again, oozing out thickly from the large slash in his back. A low wind ruffled long black hair and Otoji could do nothing more other than stare at his friends lifeless form and wish it had been him. Another scream echoed throughout the deserted battle field sending chills up his spine.

Not knowing what else he could do Otoji tried to rouse his friend all the while thinking about what the Humans could be doing to the village.

Seto stirred a little and opened his eyes but then again you'd wake up if someone was prodding and shaking you as much as Otoji was. He stopped at once and tore a thick strip of cloth from his overlarge cotton top and fastened it around his friends back and waist in an attempt to stop the bleeding and cursing him for wearing leather for he couldn't tear off any of the fabric to use as a bandage.

'Are you alright?' he asked quietly.

Seto raised his head groggily 'What?'

'Are you alright?' Otoji repeated.

The brunette sat up a little and winced 'Yes, what happened, did we win?'

Otoji looked around 'Er . . . not exactly' he said grimly 'In fact I think we're the only ones who survived, they are in the village, I keep hearing screaming'

Seto was on his feet at once. A wave of dizziness came over him but he forced it off.

'Whoa hold on! Your not thinking about going to the village are you?! You'll get yourself killed!' sapphire locked onto green stubbornly before Seto turned and started to limp off in the direction of the village 'Hey! Don't just leave me here!' Otoji shouted as he chased after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A burning wasteland was all that had been left. Nothing but charred ruins and a mass of dead bodies which lay strewn across the stone floor. Part of the village was still standing but it was being brutally attacked by men. Seto strained his eyes as he looked around, trying to see through the thick smoke that lingered and silently praying that Akara and Mokuba had not been one of those killed, as he walked he barely made a sound, he would have been silent, had he not have been limping.

Otoji could see his friends worry but he alone knew the truth 'C'mon Seto, you and I both know that they have left none alive' he said softly whilst putting his hand on a pale arm. Seto pulled away and limped over to a building which was only half standing now 'C'mon, your just making things harder on yourself' the brunette knelt stiffly and started searching through the rubble 'They're dead' Otoji whispered 'Just like my folks, we're the only ones alive'

The brunette shook his head and continued to rummage through the charred bricks 'Gotta find . . . Mokuba' he managed to choke. He scraped away some more bricks and glass, cutting up his hands in the process before drawing back in shock for Akara was laid there with her body covering Mokuba who was crying. She was obviously dead due to a deep wound in the back of her neck and head.

Seto carefully lifted his little brother from what used to be their house, other than a few scratches the ten year old was alright. As soon as he was aware who had hold of him he promptly clasped his arms around Seto's neck 'Please . . . please don't leave me big brother!' he begged whilst crying even harder.

Seto forced a reassuring smile, he felt tired, very tired, he wasn't entirely over the blood loss yet but for Mokuba's sake he had to be strong 'I came back for you didn't I? why would I go and leave again?' he said softly 'Don't worry, I'll find us both a place that is safe, I'll look after you Mokuba' he said wearily

'Where!?' Otoji burst out suddenly which caused Mokuba to flinch 'Where is there left that we can go?! Where is there that is safe in this world now?!' he demanded 'Open your eyes Seto! The Valley was all we had! There are no other places like this, there is no other place where we are not hunted down like _dogs and killed! As far as we are concerned we are the last of the half-breeds. There probably aren't any Dragons alive! We are on our __OWN!' fear was evident in his emerald eyes._

The brunette stared sadly at Akara's limp form for a moment before kneeling beside her, uttering a few words he bowed his head and stood once again 'No, your talking about places here, I'm not suggesting we try and find a place here for there are none. I am talking about beyond the mountains, far from here. Otoji we are not the last, I know it'

The teen shook his head fiercely 'Go beyond the mountain?! Are you insane?! There are even more Humans there than there ever were here! Face it Seto we've lost! Our kind was doomed to be the servants of Humans, stop trying to fight it and just accept it!' he fell to his knees in defeat 'We can't keep fighting Seto, we can't. We have to face it. The Humans rule this land. Not us'

Seto looked up 'What are you saying, that we just give up right now?'

Otoji looked grim and upset but angered at the same time 'The time of the Dragon is _DEAD! We would be foolish not to give up!' he clenched his fists 'Marik has won! And there is __NOTHING anyone can do to change that!' he snapped 'You don't know half as much about this war as I do! You don't know anything about Marik or the powers he possesses! Your too young and naïve to understand that's why no one has told you! I know exactly what's in store, __WE'VE LOST!'_

But Seto wasn't listening 'Shut up, I think I hear something'

'Don't tell me to shut up! Just because you can't accept the fact that we are doomed!' the teen argued back.

Seto glared 'I'm not you idiot, there is _someone here' he hissed, turning his head sharply as he heard a twig snap, he could feel darkness closing in._

But Otoji continued to rant and ignore him, his voice echoing throughout the ruins, Mokuba clung to Seto as though his life depended on it.

Everything was quiet, minus Mokuba's cries and Otoji's infuriated shouts until 'Otoji! Behind you!'

The black haired teen turned sharply only to have a sword driven into his chest.

As he staggered forwards and collapsed Seto carefully put Mokuba down and glared death at the battered, bloodied man who stood before him, but there was a difference in his glare, his eyes were much more angled, almost snake-like even, his face was pale, ghostly pale.

He gripped one of the daggers and stood his ground in front of the man, large blue leathery Dragon wings stuck out of his back and were angled menacingly 'You are all the same' he hissed 'Bloodthirsty, warmongering, greedy _BASTARDS!'_

Mokuba shrank back a little, he had never heard him speak with such hatred before, nor had he ever seen him in his other form. Brown hair was now longer and pure white. His eyes bore no pupils what so ever and if he wasn't mistaken Seto's hands were more dragon-like and bore sharp, piercing claws and were covered in tiny blue scales.

"Holy shit! He's a Hybrid!" The man exclaimed, he tried to run but Seto grasped his shoulder tightly and dug the long claws into his flesh

"Do you delight in misery and pain? Do you enjoy making other people suffer, splitting up families, killing those who have done you no wrong?" he demanded sharply, in English which shocked the man further "I know what your kind call us, I know that you think we are demons, that we should not exist, that we are a plague upon this world that needs to be contained and exploited until we have no further use, you assume that we are unforgiving, brutal monsters without either heart nor soul. When in reality, it is _YOUR kind who are the monsters. Not us" Seto tightened his grip, digging the claws deeper into the man's skin._

Blood oozed out and soaked into fabric. Seto pulled out the dagger from beneath his belt and lined it up with the man's heart 'Well, I've had _enough_, I am going to do something my kind should have done a long time ago, stop all this pathetic _training _and stand and fight against you with my true power and win back our freedom. Should I fail then I guess I'll see you down in hell!' he hissed, reverting back to his own language and driving the sword down sharply.

Mokuba flinched, tears were running down his face 'Stop big brother!' he pleaded quietly. His brother turned and Mokuba was thankful to see brown returning to his hair and the snake-like eyes shape back to how he knew them, the wings folded and vanished from sight.

Seto blinked and ran his hand through his hair before looking down at Mokuba and seeing his tears, he knelt and allowed the child to hug him 'I'm sorry Mokuba' he whispered whilst reaching out to Mokuba who drew back in fear 'Please . . . don't cry, I'm myself again, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm sorry for scaring you. I forgot that you'd never seen my other side before . . . please don't cry . . . don't be scared, I'm still Seto'

The boy flung his arms around Seto and cried into his chest, he was trembling a little and the brunette felt this 'What are we gonna do?' he asked sadly 'Moms dead and so is everyone else we ever knew'

Seto softly put his arms around the boy 'I know, that's why I'm going to look out for you now Mokuba, I promise I wont let anything bad happen to you'

'You promise? Really?' the boy asked.

'Yeah, I promise'

**TBC**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaffacake11569: So, how's this going so far, there will be a new character next chapter and I'll leave you all to guess who that will be.

A great big thank you to K*Star and Jenna aka Kitty for reviewing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Chapter 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter Four**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**'Speaking in Dragon'**

**"Speaking in English"**

**_Thoughts_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Maybe it was left after all . . . oh well too late to turn back now, I guess I've got to accept the fact that I am lost_ a blond teenager looked around the baron plains and took in all the charred buildings and destruction _Geese, of all the places I had to get lost in dis one has gotta be the worst_

Hazel eyes scanned the area _I really don't like dis place, it's so . . . creepy, it's like dere's been a massacre or something_ he continued to walk _Dere ain't even anyone alive, it's like a ghost town, what's left of it anyways_ his eyes widened when he spotted the large, charred Pure-Dragon corpse "Holy shit!" he exclaimed "I'm in da Dragon village!"

Scared now the blond backtracked, he knew for certain that he wasn't welcome here, he was Human meaning that if there was a Dragon-Kind alive he was going to get killed. Wide hazel eyes darted around, he flinched as he heard talking and darted behind a pile of rubble.

A tall, quite lanky brunette and a small child with thick, long black hair walked past. In the brunette's arms was a woman, barely distinguishable as her face was coated in blood. Her clothes were dirty and her hair was covered in tiny stones and dust. Small gashes littered her arms and legs, he was walking with a slight limp as he carried her and blood glistened on his leather pants from a wound on his leg.

Despite his fear the blond couldn't help but feel curious, that is until he spotted the blade which was fixed to the brunette's waist by a thick leather belt. He ducked down again, the clothing both were wearing was too . . . too . . . dragon-like for his liking. He had seen the sort of thing that Dragons and Hybrids wore in their Human form and it was either thick cotton or leather/dragon hide, both were wearing earrings, the taller one had about five silver hoop shaped ones in one ear gradually getting higher up and a fang attached to silver in the other, the hoops weren't very large, in fact they were only just noticeable, the child was also sporting a similar fang but no hoops, Jounochi suspected those had once belonged to a Pure-Dragon for they were like no fangs he had ever seen before.

He sat up a little to get another look and promptly sank back down again, they were pale, both of them a deathly pale, almost white and their faces bore strange markings. Markings like those were not a good sign, especially in a place like this where any survivors would be eager for revenge.

'Why did mom have to die?' a high pitched voice questioned in a different language. The blond peered over the rubble again and spotted the brunette gently laid the woman on the ground.

'Because Humans exist' was the angry response from him. 

The child sniffled 'What did we ever do to them?'

'Nothing' the brunette replied 'But Humans are so selfish and greedy that they wouldn't care, they don't understand us, they can't accept the fact that there is something living in this world much, much more powerful than they can ever be, therefore they want to eliminate us'

The blond felt his eyes water as he heard those words, he couldn't understand what was being said but the tone was depressing and defeated. Strangely the language sounded very different from what Jou had thought it would sound, he had thought it would just be various grunts and growls but it wasn't, the two were speaking words, just strange words that he had never heard before, he thought it would have sounded rather beautiful in any other circumstances but he could tell that the child sounded very upset . . . so afraid, and the older one sounded so cruel and bitter, both tones sort of ruined the sound of the strange language they were speaking. 

He had never supported his father's cause, in fact he had questioned at one point just why they fought the dragons, his father had claimed that they were foul beasts who would sooner or later swoop down from the mountains and destroy the village, he had claimed that it would be an honourable battle, yet it had been a massacre.

Jou shifted quietly and at once wished he hadn't. Cold sapphire eyes were locked onto his position behind the rubble in an instant, the taller of the two gently nudged the child behind him, his hand was poised at his side, ready to whip out the blade in the blink of an eye 'Stay there' he said quietly before moving forwards lightly, his steps were silent.

The blond began to panic and frantically he looked around for another hiding place, finding none he backed up against the wall and waited for the inevitable to happen.

'Is someone here?' the child asked, fear was evident in his voice.

The brunette scanned the area and shook his head 'No, I must be hearing things'

'What did you hear big brother?'

The brunette stood rigid and continued to gaze around with his keen eyes 'Shuffling' he paused and his eyes locked onto the rubble again, narrowing 'And heavy breathing' he added coldly.

The blonde's hand instantly covered his mouth as he realized how heavy he was breathing, like before he had no idea what either was saying but he could guess that it wasn't good, he tried to hold his breath but it did no good, that cold unblinking gaze was still locked onto his hiding place with unnerving focus.

The child came closer and the frigid blue eyes of the elder one narrowed further 'I can sense fear' With that frigid remark the blond tensed up and started to shake a little, it was the tone that was scaring him the most, it had to be because he couldn't understand the language, that voice sounded too deadly for comfort 'Hmph, Human fear' the brunette stated, he sounded disgusted.

'Are we gonna leave him?' the child asked.

The brunette moved closer 'That all depends' he said stopping an inch from the rubble, he turned so he could talk to the child better 'What would you care if I were to say no? Humans are all the same, worthless' he hissed menacingly.

The blond yelped in fear, unable to contain it anymore, the sound of that voice was really freaking him out. Suddenly he felt the collar of his jacket tighten, he was pulled sharply to his feet and was barely an inch from a pale, bruised face "So, you thought you could hide did you?" the brunette demanded nastily, and in English though his voice held the slight accent of his own language, even so he was speaking perfectly clear enough. The blond stammered but he couldn't form any real words, he was too frightened "Give me one decent reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" the brunette snarled, his voice like a knife

'No big brother!' the child exclaimed.

Cold sapphire eyes locked onto the child 'Why?' he questioned 'Why shouldn't I kill him after all his kind has done to us?' his eyes narrowed 'His kind killed your mother Mokuba!'

The child shook his head 'No big brother, don't be like them' he looked up at his brother with sad grey eyes 'Don't be like them' he repeated, tears were trickling down his cheeks 'Please Seto, let him go, your not heartless' he pleaded.

Seto's gaze shifted back to the blond 'Alright Mokuba' he answered, releasing his captive and glaring at him "But don't think this means you are off the hook, I'm warning you, touch one hair on his head and I'll show you a whole new meaning to the word pain"

As soon as he was released the blond backed off "I assume you will want our names, I am Seto and he is Mokuba" Seto stated "And since you now know ours I feel it only fair that I know yours"

"J-Jounochi" the blond stammered "Jounochi K-Katsuya" he hadn't gotten much of the conversation between the two because they hadn't spoken in English but he could tell that something terrible must have happened, the little one must have been deeply upset if he was crying and the elder one had obviously tried to comfort him, that's what he thought anyway, he assumed that the two were very close, like brothers or something.

"Well Katsuya what the hell are you doing here?" Seto demanded, his tone was very nasty and cold

Jou looked at the floor "I got lost" he answered.

"Humph, and I thought you Humans had a little more sense than to wander around in a _Dragon's village" Seto stated "Just count yourself lucky that Mokuba here actually cares about your welfare, because had I been alone my blade would be at your throat" he narrowed his eyes "And _vengeance_ would have been mine"_

The little boy clung to Seto as a loud explosion echoed in the distance, Seto's sapphire eyes narrowed even more "_You_" he hissed "You've been stalling me till they come haven't you!?" he snapped before swearing in his own language and gently putting one arm around Mokuba, making the child feel more protected.

Jounochi backed off "No" he answered "No way, I'd neva do dat!" he exclaimed "I dun even think dis war is worth anythin' all it causes is death, dere ain't no goal ta aim fer, it's just pointless, a massacre. I left ma old man cuz I couldn't take anotha day of it . . . dat's when I got lost" hazel eyes were pleading "Please! You've gotta believe me! I've got nothin' against Dragons!"

Seto felt Mokuba tense in fright, he glared at Jounochi "Fine" he answered "I'll believe you, for now" he could hear shouts in the distance.

"Shit dere cumin!" Jou exclaimed "Dey are gonna capture yeh 'n' ya bro!" he continued "Den they'll kill me fer runnin off, literally"

Seto gently pushed Mokuba off him "Follow me" he stated "And at least _try not to go blundering about and stand on every god damn twig you find" he turned to Mokuba and reassured him before taking his hand and guiding him through the rubble, despite his limp his feet barely left an imprint in the ground and his steps were almost silent._

Twice Jounochi fell, and each time he dislodged some stones, causing little rock slides "I thought I told you to _step quietly_?!" Seto snapped as Jou picked himself up again.

"Sorry" the blond replied, he decided to just follow the two instead of trying to walk along side them

The brunette led them towards the jagged rocks of a cliff face and pushed aside some thick plants, revealing a small hole just large enough that they could crawl in one at a time, Seto let Mokuba go first, then Jounochi.

"Ain't it gonna be uncomfortable 'n' tight?" the blond asked.

"No, it widens after a while you _moron_" Seto replied, he turned sharply when a bullet grazed his shoulder.

"Oi! We've got a survivor ere!" a man shouted, his face was covered in scars "Looks like we've found that boy too!" he called.

A second man ran into the clearing and Jou swore "Heh, thought you could get away did'ya Jounochi?" he questioned nastily "Wait until ya father hears about this, his own son mingling with filth like this!" he gestured at Seto who glared.

Five more men surrounded them "Oh shit . . . dis don't look good" Jou mumbled.

Seto's sapphire eyes darted in their sockets from man to man, each of them had a weapon of some kind "Ya shouldn't have run away Jou" one man taunted "Your fate is ta kill off these scum" he continued "Ya can't deny it"

The brunette smirked calmly, the shock had left his face completely 'The only scum here are you' he answered coldly whilst placing his hand over the handle of his sword.

All seven men laughed, they didn't know what he had said, but they had an idea, of course they were way off "Ya can't seriously think ya can stand up to us all do ya?!" one exclaimed

"Yeah!" said another "Your just a kid!"

"If da other scum of that village couldn't stop us, what makes ya think you can?!"

Seto still looked calm 'Because I am no ordinary Dragon' he answered, his eyes narrowed and changed shape and his skin paled. Long claws replaced his fingernails and his hands slowly turned blue "Or do I have to spell it out for you _Humans?" he hissed coldly._

The men glanced at each other, puzzled before one realized "Shit . . . yeh-yeh a Hybrid!"

Seto smirked and brushed his now white hair from his eyes "Correct" he answered "And us Hybrids are far different from normal Dragons" the men and Jounochi flinched when a large pair of leathery blue wings shot out of Seto's back and spread out impressively, he closed his eyes and started muttering something in his native tongue, the men began to panic and tried to run away yet inside they knew that they were doomed.

**TBC**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaffacake11679: Sorry for taking so long to post my next chapter. Thank you once again for your reviews!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Chapter 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter Five**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**'Speaking in Dragon'**

**"Speaking in English"**

**_Thoughts_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The men glanced at each other, puzzled before one realized "Shit . . . yeh-yeh a Hybrid!"

Seto smirked and brushed his now white hair from his eyes "Correct" he answered "And us Hybrids are far different from normal Dragons" the men and Jounochi flinched when a large pair of leathery blue wings shot out of Seto's back and spread out impressively, he closed his eyes and started muttering something in his native tongue, the men began to panic and tried to run away yet inside they knew that they were doomed.

There was a flash as a bolt of lightning struck the floor, a second struck inches from one of the men who had them cornered. Jounochi backed away and watched the scene with terrified, hazel eyes. A high wind had picked up and the skies were clouding over, there was a low roll of thunder followed by more bolts of lightning, several screams of pain indicated that some of these had hit their targets, feeling drained and dizzy Seto opened his eyes and stopped the spell, the clouds faded away again and the lightning bolts stopped, he put his hand against the cliff face for a moment to steady himself and the other to his forehead, there were still two men alive and they both advanced him.

"Aw look, he's tired himself out" one taunted.

The second grinned nastily "This is the one he has been searching for, I'm sure it is" he said.

"Master Marik will be pleased with us" said the first, the two of them faced Seto and both at the same time made a grab for him but they only grabbed thin air.

Seto, seconds before had spread out his wings to their full span and pushed off from the ground. Jounochi watched wide eyed as the man span around and looked up, Seto narrowed his eyes and managed to kick one of them in the head before gaining more altitude, he cupped his hands together and watched a small white, glowing ball with tiny blue sparks emitting off it form. After a few seconds he took it in one hand and threw it at the two men.

As soon as the little ball of sparks and light hit it literally showered them with lightning. The two fell dead in an instant, covered with blood and burns. Seto struggled to keep himself in the air, his vision blurred and darkness took over.

Jounochi dived forwards as the brunette plummeted back to earth and caught him, getting smacked in the face by the large wings in the process. He laid him down beside the cave opening and watched as Seto's Dragon features faded away making him look, once again human, well as human as you could possibly look with strange coloured markings all over your face.

Sapphire eyes flickered open again tiredly and Seto stared at Jounochi "What da hell were ya thinking?!" the blond exclaimed "Tryin' ta pull a crazy stunt like dat! Yeh could'a hurt yeh'self!"

Seto weakly got to his feet, he managed to scowl "I _knew_ what I was doing" he snarled "You should . . . be thanking me. Had I not done what I had done . . . then you would be dead" his eyes narrowed into a glare as he stumbled forward a little "_Humph_, what would . . . what would a _Human_ care about a Dragon's welfare anyway?" he demanded, panting heavily.

"I ain't like da others" Jounochi replied.

'Yeah right' Seto muttered, grasping the cliff wall as he felt his knees give out and glaring "You are . . . all the same"

"What made yeh think dat?" Jou asked whilst offering some support for the brunette to help him stand.

"I don't think it, I know it" Seto replied "Humans are nothing . . . nothing but bloodthirsty _fools. All they want . . . all they want is power"_

"Your power?"

"Everyone's power" Seto answered finally catching his breath and slowing his intake of oxygen "I'm a Hybrid, and you know what that means" he added "Your kind want all that power from themselves, and they don't care how they get it" he said fiercely "You saw me before right?" Jounochi nodded "That is but a small fraction of my power" Seto continued "Your kind think we are nothing but creatures who should become their slaves and that we should use our powers to aide them in war" he hissed "And so do you" he added coldly.

"I dun think dat" Jou replied.

Seto glared "Your _Human, of course you think that" he let go of the rocky cliff wall and pushed Jou away from him as he felt his strength returning "Your kind have one-track minds, you __all think alike"_

There was a feint noise behind them. Little Mokuba had crawled out of the cave and was now clinging to Seto's waist, the brunette's already ice-cold eyes became even colder "You've done your damage, now get lost before I lose my temper, forget my earlier statement about not hurting you and inflict some wounds of my own"

"I didn't do nothin!"

Seto raised an eyebrow "_Really_?" he questioned whilst taking Mokuba's hand protectively "Then it _must_ have been pure coincidence that those men were able to find us" his eyes narrowed "I know this place like the back of my hand" he stated "Even if it is in ruin I still know every secret it possesses, someone who doesn't live here couldn't have found this place, or even guessed we were going to go here, do you know why?"

"No" Jounochi replied

"Look around you _moron, walls surround us at all sides, minus the one we came here by, to the inexperienced eye of your kind it would be like walking into a trap, a dead end" Seto answered "But those men came here, and there is no way it was just a coincidence" his glare became harsher "So you can get out of my sight treacherous _Human_" he said with disgust "You've had your fun, you've almost gotten my brother and I killed. Now, if I were you I'd leave, before my __blade finds your _god damn_ throat!"_

Jounochi didn't move until Seto whipped out the sword from beneath his belt "I am giving you my final warning" he hissed coldly whilst advancing on the blond "Take it and leave or ignore it and feel my wrath"

Jou stepped back a little, but he didn't actually go away "Yeh can't boss me aroun' like dat just coz I'm Human" he said "I have rights"

Seto glared "And so do we" he answered "But where are those rights now? Humph, your kind came barging in on our lives when we hadn't even done anything to you and waged war against us, it was probably your kind who killed my real parents!" he snarled "Your kind doesn't care that we have a right to live freely, so why should _I care?"_

Jou frowned "Yeh can't intimidate me" he stated, trying to sound threatening like the brunette but sounding more scared, and he was scared. Inside he was quaking.

Seto smirked "It looks like I already have" he hissed "This is your last chance, you can leave Mokuba and I alone or I can teach you the _hard_ way why you do not mess with a pissed off Dragon Hybrid who has lost almost _everything"_

'No big brother' said a quiet voice.

'Eh?' Seto turned and looked down at little Mokuba 'Why shouldn't I teach him a valuable lesson he's sure not to forget? He almost got you killed'

'Because you'd be no better' the boy replied.

'What?'

'If you just killed him . . . without letting him explain or even try to defend himself then you'd be no better than a Human' Mokuba replied.

'But . . . Mokuba'

'NO!' Mokuba exclaimed fiercely 'Just calm down Seto, please'

Annoyed, the brunette glared at the floor and shoved the sword back under his belt. He turned sharply to face Jounochi again "Explain yourself" he stated.

"I dunno how dey came 'ere" Jou answered, he had to hand it to Mokuba, that kid could really calm the brunette down when he was worked up in a temper "Either they followed us or dey knew more den what yeh give em credit fer" he continued.

'They could have seen us leave big brother and followed' Mokuba suggested 'I really doubt Jounochi would try and get us enslaved, because they said they were going to hurt him too . . . remember Seto?'

Seto scowled, he didn't like being ganged up on, especially by his own brother "_Fine" he snapped not knowing what else he could do "If he wants the Human can stay with us, if he doesn't then he can __get out of my sight"_

Mokuba looked at Jounochi "Dere ain't nothin ere fer me" the blond answered "If I try ta go back dey are gonna kill me, I'll go with you guys"

Seto scowled even more, he didn't like the idea of a Human travelling with himself and Mokuba one bit, but he had gone and opened his big mouth and now he was stuck with the consequences "Alright, but you had better be able to hold your own in a fight, I don't want to be saving your ass every time we are attacked. Mokuba and I are going into Human lands, so we will obviously need to be on guard"

"No problem, I can fight!" Jou exclaimed.

"Pft, personally I could defeat you with my eyes blindfolded and one hand tied behind my back" Seto bragged.

"Prove it" Jounochi replied "You 'n' me right now"

"Humph, you wouldn't last two seconds against me" Seto answered as he watched Jou tear a clean piece of fabric from one of the men's jackets.

He walked behind the brunette and fixed it tightly "Right, since yeh think yeh can honestly beat me blindfolded we'll test yeh, oh 'n' hold one hand behind yeh back" Jou was grinning broadly, he and Mokuba shuffled away from him _Heh, he'll neva know what hit him_

Seto folded his arms instead and stood there whilst Jounochi snuck up on him from his right. The brunette acted like he didn't know where Jou was, but he did. He could sense him approaching, the blonde's fear and mild excitement was being pretty much blasted at him.

After a few seconds Jounochi was right behind him, with one hand Seto gripped his wrist and flipped him over his shoulder, where he then put his foot on his chest and tore off the blindfold, he was smirking and his cold sapphire eyes were mocking "Told you so"

Jou coughed and Seto pulled him to his feet "Dat wasn't fair!" he exclaimed "Yeh could see!"

"No" Seto replied "But I could _sense_ you" he added, his smirk broadened "At least I don't have to concern myself with staying on my guard at night so you wont attack me because you display your emotions so strongly I would sense you a mile away I'd be awake before you could even find something to kill me with"

"Shaddup" Jou retorted, surprised by the brunette's sudden mood change.

'Are we gonna go Seto?' Mokuba questioned.

'Yes' Seto answered, he nudged Jou sharply "C'mon dog, we're leaving" he stated

"What did you just call me?!" the blond demanded,

Seto chuckled to himself "I called you a dog" he answered  "Now come on, we've hardly got any daylight left and I'm sure you will want to sleep soon, considering you are Human"

"What da hell is dat supposed to mean?!" Jou demanded "N' I ain't no dog!"

Seto smirked again "It means that you are _weak_" he answered "Because you cannot take even one day without rest, and you are. _Dog"_

Jou glared, he was beginning to have second thoughts about travelling with these two, if all the brunette was going to do was tease and insult him then there wasn't much point, he may as well have shut his mouth and let Seto slit his throat.

**TBC**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JaffaCake11679: Thank you Dragonia, K*Star and Jenna aka Kitty for your reviews! I'm planning on introducing a new character very soon J

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	7. Chapter 6

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter Six**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**'Speaking in Dragon'**

**"Speaking in English"**

**_Thoughts_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Dead_?!" Marik demanded "What do you mean they are dead?" he questioned angrily.

"I dunno" a largish man replied whilst wringing his hands nervously in front of the teenager "I just em, dead" brown eyes showed his fear "They were covered in blood 'n' burns, all of em"

Marik narrowed his eyes "Damn, the blue-eyed Hybrid must have survived"

"What shall we do now master?"

"Track him down" Marik snapped in reply "And bring him to me _alive"_

"And anyone else whose with him?"

"Kill them" Marik replied harshly.

The man nodded and left the room, almost banging into a bald, thin teen with piercings and strange eye makeup "You asked for me Master Marik?" 

"Hai" Marik answered "Since the men here are incompetent idiots, I will have to leave this place sooner than I originally planned and round up the other rare hunters, it's time I dropped this false façade and show my true intentions"

"Are you sure that is . . . wise Master?"

Lilac eyes narrowed "I do not have you around to question my orders Strings, of course I am sure" 

Strings nodded "I'll . . . I'll go do that then" he answered before wisely backing out of the room.

_Once I have the blue-eyed Hybrid things shall change in my favour, within him is the power to take over the entire world, and make everyone quiver at my feet! Marik's bloodthirsty smile broadened _No one will dare question me, and it shouldn't take much persuasion to get the blue-eyed Hybrid on my side, after all. I fooled those mortals easily enough with my lies__

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jounochi looked around, taking in how everything looked at night, actually it looked no different than at day, except more scary. Sighing he shifted a little to get more comfortable, he couldn't sleep, even if he tried he couldn't so he had seated himself on a rock and decided to keep watch.

His eyes fell on the two Dragons who were both sleeping, Mokuba was curled up beneath Seto's trench coat, and the brunette was on his back with one arm limply over his stomach, his hair fell in his eyes. 

Jounochi was surprised, about half an hour ago Seto had looked so cold and powerful, now he looked like he wouldn't hurt anyone, not even a fly, his face just held that innocent look, just like Mokuba's always did.

Now that he wasn't wearing his coat Jounochi could tell that those markings on his face weren't the only ones, around each arm he had two emerald coloured bands, one was just flat but the one above it was jagged, like little flames. Above both markings on each arm was a thick metal ring.

The brunette had also taken off his brown leather wrist guards, well he hadn't actually taken them off but he had undone all the tiny string crosses so they just lay open beneath his arms, allowing Jou to see green, flame like bands around each wrist. He yawned tiredly and laid on the floor, maybe he could sleep after all.

Carefully he slid off the rock and laid himself on the rough grass. Stars twinkled in the perfectly clear dark sky _Man, dis is nice _he thought as he stared at the stars _I've neva seen summert like dis before, hell I neva even knew a peaceful place like dis existed starting to drop off to sleep he kicked off his trainers and closed his eyes whilst lying on his side and grinning at the child _He's a sweet kid _he thought _Shame about his bro__

Jounochi wiped the smile from his face and allowed sleep to take him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud bang snapped all three awake, Seto was on his feet in front of Mokuba in an instant, his sharp sapphire eyes darting in their sockets, Jou sluggishly got to his feet and stood behind the child, knowing Seto would want him protected. There was another loud rumble in the distance, the ground shook.

Soon Seto and Jou found themselves completely surrounded by people, all wearing strange masks, hiding their faces from view. One stepped forward, he was wearing a white mask which covered his whole face, marked with little red dots, his hair was black and greasy.

"End of the line Dragon!" he snarled "Master Marik would like ta have a few words with you"

Seto gripped his sword in his hand 'I bet he would' he answered tauntingly 'But it will take more than a few _Humans _to grab me'

"We can either do this the easy, pain free way, or we can do this the hard way, it would be in your best interest to co-operate with us Dragon" said a second man, not understanding what had been said to him.

Sapphire eyes narrowed 'Bring it on and I'll _crush _you' he hissed, he pulled the second sword from beneath his belt and threw it to Jounochi, several guns clicked "Ah . . . so that's how it's going to be eh?" he questioned in English 'Too scared to use your own strength in a fight' he muttered, reverting back again to his own language just to annoy them further.

"Yeah" a third snarled "That's how it's gonna be"

"Hardly seems fair wouldn't you say?" Seto questioned speaking just in English now, an eyebrow raised, he dropped the sword and pulled out two revolvers from the inside pockets of his trench coat "Y'know you humans have interesting weapons" he stated whilst looking over the guns "These are much more effective than a sword, wouldn't you say?" he chuckled to himself "It's a shame you are so careless with them, I mean leaving them just lying around like that" he smirked "Anyone can get their hands on them"

Jou picked up the other sword and stood with his back to Seto so he wouldn't get caught off guard, it was really an unfair fight, Seto was clearly unused to guns and had probably never fired one in his life, and Jounochi certainly hadn't wielded a sword before. He personally thought it would be smarter to switch weapons but he doubted that the brunette would actually listen to him, they were also greatly outnumbered which also made the fight unfair, Mokuba was shaking a little. Protected by both Jou and Seto.

Seto pointed the guns at the man who had spoken first "Leave now and I'll spare your pitiful life" he snarled, his eyes were very narrow, and from what Jou could see, pupiless.

All the men surrounding them laughed nastily and one raised their gun and shot Seto in his shoulder, the teen winced and turned sharply and was then shot twice in his back, he cried out in pain and staggered forwards a little.

"Ha! You can't keep your eye on all of us!" one mocked.

Seto's face was twisted in pain but he regained his stance and closed his eyes, trying to blot out the searing pain he was feeling, he forced a smirk "I don't have to" he retorted.

"Humph! There's nothin ya can do!" someone snarled.

Another man fired a bullet, Seto dropped the first gun and held up his hand, stopping the bullet in it's tracks "You were saying?" he questioned, gently pushing down the point of the bullet so it flipped over and faced the way it had come, he lowered his hand and picked up the gun again, the bullet started to move and hit the man who had fired it in his chest, killing him "_Oops" he taunted._

Mokuba was shaking badly, he had never been so scared in his entire life. His grey eyes were fearful _Oh, I hope you know what you are doing big brother_

"Last chance" Seto offered, his eyes snapped open and he glared at the nearest man, blood was seeping down his arm and staining the brown leather a dark red on his back "No?" he questioned before shrugging "Alright then" he opened fire upon all the masked men, some tried to retaliate but they found that they were all frozen in place. 

Mokuba covered his head with his hands and crouched low, shaking and crying quietly. Seto turned in a full circle with a large smirk on his face, he was clearly enjoying this. Jounochi ducked when the brunette was almost facing him, after the last masked man collapsed with blood seeping out of his chest the guns just made clicking noises, Seto stopped pulling the triggers and stared into the barrel "Shit!" he exclaimed whilst throwing them aside "Damn things are broken!"

Jou tried to comfort Mokuba who was clearly terrified without laughing at Seto "Nah, just outta ammo" he said.

"Ammo?"

"Yah, y'know, these things" Jou replied whilst holding up an empty shell "Ya need more ta keep da guns workin"

Seto kicked one of the guns "Piece of crap!" he snarled before kneeling by Mokuba 'Are you alright?' he asked.

Mokuba uncurled himself and threw his arms around Seto. Crying hard 'Y-yeah' he said through his tears 'I'm just scared'

The brunette gently pulled him to his feet 'Hey don't worry about it, I'll look after you'

'Your hurt' the child said quietly, eyeing the blood.

Seto took the empty shell from Jounochi "These things, they don't cause permanent damage do they?" he asked.

"I dunno, depends where ya get shot. But Seto, yeh'd be better off if ya didn't have metal in ya, trust me" Jou answered.

"Oh screw it" the brunette muttered "Something that tiny shouldn't cause too many problems"

Jou looked strangely serious "Seto . . . if one of those bullets has punctured something then yeh gonna need medical attention, 'n' soon" he picked up one of the guns "Humans use these ta kill each other, dey were designed fer da whole purpose of inflictin pain 'n' endin lives like dat" he snapped his fingers.

Seto moved the thick strap of his top out of the way and examined the hole in his shoulder, he could see a feint gleam of metal "I think my bone has stopped that one" he said whilst standing.

"Well . . . den dat's okay, as long as it don't get infected, but what about yeh back?" Jou asked, surprised it wasn't hurting the young Hybrid. Seto turned and allowed Jounochi to lift his top so he could examine the other holes "Whoa! Yeh lucky Seto, 'n' I mean real lucky" Jou pulled out a bullet which hadn't gone in very far, he tried to find the other one and succeeded, like the first it hadn't embedded itself very far so the blond was able to remove it.

Seto swore and pulled away as he felt a sharp jolt of pain "Sorry man" Jou apologised "But if one of those got yeh spine ya would'a had it"

Mokuba clung to the brunette's waist and cried harder "Thanks a lot _moron!" Seto snarled coldly "Just go and scare Mokuba twice as much as he already has been!" _

Jou looked at the floor "Sorry" he said quietly whilst watching Seto fuss over little Mokuba, he was surprised how kind he looked, sure his eyes were still icy and cruel but that didn't reach his voice or his facial expression, he had no idea that the young, hot-headed Hybrid could even show kindness _Man, he must really hate us he thought _But den again, it was us who orphaned da kid_ he sighed _It's no wonder he hates us, his mother is dead, his lil' bro is scared stiff 'n' he's bein' hunted down like a dog__

Seto was on his knees,  his arms gently around Mokuba who was crying into his chest 'I want mom back!' the poor boy wailed.

'Yeah' Seto replied 'I know kid' he continued 'And I swear Mokuba, when I find the bastard who ordered the attack I'll wring his neck!' he shifted a little so Mokuba could sit on his knee 'No matter how long it takes I'll make sure that somehow whoever did this pays for what he did'

'I'm scared Seto' the child said quietly, sounding very pathetic, Jou felt his heart ache at the tone. He knew what it was like to be alone, his mother and his baby sister had both been killed in a rock slide after being cast out by Marik, and his father never had loved him 'I don't like it here'

Seto sighed 'We don't have any other choice Mokuba, believe me if I could turn back the clock and somehow prevent all this I would'

'You wont leave me will you Seto?' Mokuba asked.

Seto gently pulled the child off his knee and stood up 'No, never' he answered fiercely 'Your all I have, I would never abandon you' he took Mokuba's hand gently and started to walk off "C'mon mutt, before something else decides to try and kill me" he said.

Jou nodded and caught up with the brunette, he was still holding the two swords but rather awkwardly. Seto walked ahead with Mokuba clutching his hand, his trench coat was flaring out behind him. Jounochi stared at his back and noticed something he hadn't before. Both in his trench coat and top were two largish rips _Probably where his wings come out_ the blond thought.

But then he started to wonder, just where _did _Seto's wings come from, he couldn't see them now and Seto's clothes were rather tight so he'd easily spot them if they were there, he had a disgusting thought of them literally coming out of his back, tearing his flesh, but then again. If they did that wouldn't he have seen blood?

"Hey Seto!" he shouted, rushing to catch the two up.

The Hybrid turned "What?"

"Well . . . I was wonderin . . . 'n' I hope yeh don't mind me askin' . . ."

Sapphire eyes narrowed "Get to the point!"

"Right" The blond answered "Well, I was wonderin where ya wings go when yeh not . . . y'know . . . all dragony 'n' creepy"

Seto rolled his eyes "In my back moron"

"But how?" Jou asked "I mean I see da rips in yeh coat 'n' stuff, but I don't see any blood . . . so er . . . how exactly do they come out?"

The brunette stopped and took his swords from Jou, shoving them back under his belt "I'd show you" he answered "But i'm too tired" he continued "You're the first one to ever ask about my wings, and believe me, your not the only one who doesn't understand, even others of my kind don't understand"

"So how do ya do it?" Jou asked.

"Well, my wings aren't solid to begin with . . . it's hard to explain really" Seto replied.

Jounochi was still confused "So how come yeh coat is ripped?" he asked.

"Because idiot, I can't open up my wings if my jacket is there can I?!" Seto snapped.

"Sorry"

Seto shook his head and sighed, managing to calm himself down "It's not your fault. Your Human. This is probably the first time you have even met a dragon up close"

"What's da difference between you 'n' other dragons?" Jou asked, he was feeling rather curious right now.

"Well some, like Mokuba, can't actually use their dragon side and the others, the Pure-Dragons can't take on a Human appearance" Seto explained.

"So Mokuba's type are Human?"

Seto shook his head "No" he answered "They still have all the other stuff, like better hearing and sight, they just can't change like I can"

"Oh"

"It's complicated. I know that without these marks we look Human but really we are far from it" Seto continued.

"How'd yeh get those anyways, it is face-paint or summert?" he asked.

"No" Seto responded, he stopped and turned around.

Jou approached him "Yeh wouldn't mind if I . . .?" the brunette shook his head, he could tell that Jounochi was just curious and strangely he felt that he could trust him, even if he was a Human. Jou gently ran a finger across one of the markings, it felt scaly "Weird" he muttered, he ran the same finger lightly over Seto's pale cheek, just to see if it was all like that, it wasn't, he pulled back "Sorry if dat was kinda strange . . ." he said.

Seto shrugged "Doesn't bother me" he answered blankly "You Humans have a tendency to look with your hands and not your eyes"

Jounochi grinned a little "It's cool dat ya know quite a bit about us, well when yeh not bein biased"

"Well . . . truth is I never saw any point in this whole war, sure I don't like Humans. But I figured long ago that they weren't _all bad. I mean just like us. Your kind think we are all thieves and murderers, and yes I am ashamed to say that a good few of us are but we're not all like that" he paused "It's like the war has fallen out of our hands, it's like we no longer fight for our freedom, but for the point of fighting"_

Jou nodded "I get dat" he said.

"Sometimes I wish that everyone would just open their eyes, it's like they are blind to everything going on. In a way I blame my kind just as much as I blame yours, you see we always retaliate that makes us as bad as your kind are, killing women and children for the hell of it or for petty revenge . . . it's sick, even if they are Human women and children it's still sick"

"So why do you fight?" Jou asked "I know yeh do cuz dere ain't no way a normal guy can wield a sword like dat, dey wouldn't have da know-how"  

Seto smirked a little "I don't know whether to thank you or to hurt you for making that assumption" he said "But your right, I do fight, well I don't really because I was in training" he continued, he stared at the floor "I had no choice"

"Course yeh did" said Jou "Everyone's got a choice"

Seto shook his head "Not me, I'm a Hybrid, and that's rare" he said "We had one other Hybrid in my village, that was it" he paused "And with your guns and . . . that exploding red stuff . . ."

"Dynamite" Jou corrected whilst laughing.

"Right . . . with that we don't really stand much of a chance, sure we've got skill and speed but we need plain, raw power" he sighed "I didn't want to get into it, Mokuba, Akara and I never wanted any part in this stupid war, but from the day they found out what I was I had no choice, I couldn't say no because we needed all the power we could get" he squeezed Mokuba's hand gently and started walking again.

"Yeh didn't wanna let everyone down"

"Yeah" Seto replied

Jou quickly caught him up "How do yeh find out?"

"Find out what?"

"Whether yeh a Hybrid or not? How did ya know?" Jounochi asked.

Seto turned "It was by accident" he replied "Akara, she was my step-mother and Mokuba's real mother, had caught me sneaking out and she grounded me. I was probably about ten at the time, so naturally I got annoyed and I kinda . . . made one of the walls explode"

Jounochi laughed "Really?!"

"Yeah" Seto answered "I thought I was going to get yelled at, but then she just smiled and hugged me" he grinned a little "I thought she'd gone mental, I mean smiling and hugging me when I turned a wall into dust!? Heh, course that wasn't the first time I caused something to explode"

"On purpose?"

"No, not on purpose" Seto replied "I had all this power and no control, normally Hybrids don't have a problem controlling their powers, even when they first find out they have them but . . . well I was different, I had much more power than what was normal . . . plus I have a very short temper, I was really dangerous" he explained "I don't know why I had such a hard time controlling it though or even why the power I had was stronger than everyone else's, it may have been something to do with my parents, but I don't remember them at all, my real parents died when I was really young"

"Yeh still are dangerous" Jou commented

"Yeah, but at least now I have control most of the time. It's only when I lose my temper that things get out of hand, which is why Mokuba is always so quick to calm me down" Jounochi nodded in agreement "So what about you anyway? I've told you all this stuff about me I feel it only fair if you tell me things about you"

"Dere ain't much ta tell" Jou replied "Ma old man served, 'n' still serves Marik" he sighed "He brought me along wit him after Marik sent him on a mission ta destroy a village 'n' leave none alive . . . actually I think it may have been yours" he paused, feeling guilty "I neva met Marik once, I just heard his orders passed on by someone else"

It was Seto's turn to be confused "But if you were travelling with your father, then why were all those Humans out to kill you?" he asked.

"Cuz I wouldn't follow orders" Jounochi answered "We came to yeh village 'n' I saw how many kids 'n' stuff there were . . . kid's who I'd hafta kill once Drake got da dynamite set up 'n' I couldn't do it. Ma old man held out a gun 'n' told me ta make him proud 'n' shoot every dragon in sight, but I wouldn't take it off him, I said I didn't wanna 'n' he called me a traitor, he said I was a lousy son"

"Humph. Some father" Seto snorted.

Jou stared at the floor "I neva thought nothin of it, till night came, all these guys surrounded me, apparently Marik was pissed off at me cuz I wouldn't take part 'n' had ordered me killed, ma old man was dere . . . I only just got away, den I got lost 'n' wound up in da village I neva wanted ta be in . . . da same village dat had caused me ta run fer ma life in da first place . . . den I saw yeh 'n' hid cuz I know a dragon when I see one, I kinda had a feelin dat you guys wouldn't be happy if yeh saw me"

The two fell silent for a moment, then Jou spoke up again "Where are you two goin anyways?" he asked.

"To another village" Mokuba replied "Seto says that ours wasn't the last" Jounochi was a little surprised, he had thought that the child couldn't speak English, and although he had a much stronger accent from the other language than Seto, his words made enough sense.

The blond saw Seto instantly tense, he could tell that some part of the young dragon still didn't trust him and sure enough, the brunette's hand was tightly grasping the collar of his jacket "If you so much as _dare tell another Human that there are other villages left I'll make sure to unleash everything I've got on you and send you straight down to hell!" he snarled._

'Seto, calm down' Mokuba said softly whilst gripping his older brother's hand.

Hazel eyes widened "I ain't gonna tell!" he exclaimed "I swear!"

Seto let him go and breathed in deeply to release his anger "See that you don't, if your kind somehow found out about the other villages they'd start looking, and although they are well hidden Humans would eventually find them, and destroy them until either all our kind were enslaved or . . ." he trailed off when Mokuba looked at him with sad grey eyes.

Jounochi nodded, he knew what the brunette would have said. And it pained him. He couldn't believe that most of the things he had been told were false, after believing pretty much all his life that dragons were violent, bloodthirsty thieves with no morals or thoughts for anyone else, he hadn't let that make him hate them, but it had scared the living daylights out of him. He wondered whose poor mind Marik and his army were polluting now . . . he could only hope that whoever it was had the sense not to believe him but Marik had a strange way with people.

The blond had never met him in his life and he doubted that many of his army had either, yet they all treated him with admiration and respect and obeyed him without question . . . well most of the time. Some didn't like Marik, some thought he was a fool but no one ever said that when he could be around, they were most probably scared of him.

**TBC**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaffacake: Wow, where have I been eh? I think its been at least a month since I updated this. Oh well, chapter 6 is finally here.

I would like to thank all of you for your reviews, I've not had a bad one yet :) 

So what do you all say, shall I try and post chapter 7 tomorrow since its half finished now?


End file.
